Monster Death Animation

Version 1

The animation for the monster dying needed to be simple enough to be used for various deaths as the cause of death for the monster isn't really cemented just yet. The death of the monster needed to be over the top and I knew it, I ensured that the animation from frame one to 6 was just the monster bleeding heavily from the eyes, ears and mouth, followed by the splitting of the head from frame 7 to 12 and then the head falling before the eventual splitting of the body in the same way the head split. I think this is plenty graphic and plenty gory enough to make this pixel game and this death animation specifically quite terrifying to younger players. 

The animation features the arm from the walk cycle, where half is missing. This adds some major continuity to the animations and makes everything seem like it runs much smoother than without, after all, it would be extremely difficult to explain why the character's arm suddenly grows back for the death scene.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the monster death might be over the top and not even relate to a cause of death, but to be totally honest I still think this is a very high quality animation worthy of being included in the game. The inclusion of things such as the eyes bleeding before the head splits as well as the arm being missing like in the walk animation really adds to the animation a lot.

If I were to make this animation again, I would probably do one where they get shot and fall to the ground, possibly disappearing too for a supernatural element. Unfortunately this isn't really possible as I have no time left, but it's definitely something to look into if I get the chance.